понедельник, 18 июля 2016 г.

How to Make Hypertufa Garden Containers

How to Make Hypertufa Garden Containers

Make your own creative garden pots! Hypertufa is made from a combination of cement and natural fillers to create rustic, lightweight garden pots, troughs, planters, and other projects including sculptures.


I’ll give you the basics to get started plus some good resources for various DIY tutorials.


Make your own creative garden pots! Hypertufa is made from a combination of cement and natural fillers to create rustic, lightweight garden pots, troughs, planters, and other projects including sculptures. I'll give you the basics to get started plus some good resources for various DIY tutorials.
Make your own creative garden pots! Hypertufa is made from a combination of cement and natural fillers to create rustic, lightweight garden pots, troughs, planters, and other projects including sculptures. I'll give you the basics to get started plus some good resources for various DIY tutorials.

I may receive a commission if you purchase something mentioned in a link on this post for sites including Amazon.com. Other links may go to websites where I have been paid to write a blog or article. See the entire disclosure here.


Getting Started with Hypertufa


Hypertufa pots were developed specifically for alpine plants but they make excellent containers for annuals as well. Made from cement (and other ingredients), the finished product is naturally porous (allowing some slow drainage) and lends itself to all sorts of artistic ideas.


Make your own creative garden pots! Hypertufa is made from a combination of cement and natural fillers to create rustic, lightweight garden pots, troughs, planters, and other projects including sculptures. I'll give you the basics to get started plus some good resources for various DIY tutorials.
Make your own creative garden pots! Hypertufa is made from a combination of cement and natural fillers to create rustic, lightweight garden pots, troughs, planters, and other projects including sculptures. I'll give you the basics to get started plus some good resources for various DIY tutorials.

To get started, it’s very easy to use molds. These can be cardboard boxes or large plastic bowls, or smaller items like ice-cream or milk cartons.


One excellent feature is, while the hypertufa mixture is curing (setting up or drying), there’s a window of opportunity where you can adjust the shape of the planter and create any additional drainage holes needed.


Make your own creative garden pots! Hypertufa is made from a combination of cement and natural fillers to create rustic, lightweight garden pots, troughs, planters, and other projects including sculptures. I'll give you the basics to get started plus some good resources for various DIY tutorials.
Make your own creative garden pots! Hypertufa is made from a combination of cement and natural fillers to create rustic, lightweight garden pots, troughs, planters, and other projects including sculptures. I'll give you the basics to get started plus some good resources for various DIY tutorials.

What is Hypertufa?


It’s helpful to know the difference between cement, concrete, and hypertufa.


  • Cement is the main ingredient in both concrete and hypertufa pots.
    Cement is made of various calcined (heated) mixtures of clay and limestone.
  • Portland cement is the most common type of cement used in concrete, mortar, stucco, and grout.
  • Concrete is a stone-like material made by mixing cement and various aggregates (sand, pebbles, gravel, shells, slate, or shale) with water and allowing the mixture to harden.
  • Hypertufa is made by combining various aggregates (sphagnum moss, sand, perlite, vermiculite) with Portland cement.
    Pots made from hypertufa have a rough and rustic appearance. Concrete pots are smoother with a more uniform appearance.

In other words, you can make concrete and hypertufa with cement as the main ingredient.


Make your own creative garden pots! Hypertufa is made from a combination of cement and natural fillers to create rustic, lightweight garden pots, troughs, planters, and other projects including sculptures. I'll give you the basics to get started plus some good resources for various DIY tutorials.
Related: Weeds on a brick patio? Here’s how to get rid of them.

How Long Does it Take?


Techniques and recipes vary quite a bit (depending on the desired look of the pots) but, overall, here’s what to expect. Most of the time is waiting time.


  • Day 1
    You will spend an afternoon creating your pots (mixing the hypertufa and shaping it into molds). Next there is a waiting period to allow the hypertufa to partially cure.
  • Day 2 or 3 (depending on the instructions)
    A day or two later, the pots are removed from the molds and you have the opportunity to make some adjustments or ‘texturize’ (rough up or smoothen surfaces) and add drainage holes.
  • Day 14
    Pots should be quite firm by now and ready for daily hosing with water or vinegar rinses to reduce the alkalinity of the cement.
  • Day 21
    By this time the pots should be complete cured (hardened). If you love the old-growth look, you can add a moss milkshake (moss plus yogurt or buttermilk blended together) to the exterior for a weathered look.

Hypertufa fairy garden
Hypertufa fairy garden

DIY Projects with Hypertufa


Written Tutorials with Images


Kim has dedicated her entire website, The Hypertufa Gardener, to all things hypertufa.



Stephanie of Garden Therapy has two tutorials for both concrete and hypertufa planters.


Susan of Learning and Yearning has step-by-step instructions for a giant-leaf hypertufa birdbath.



Video Tutorials



This video is a bit older (older video quality) but has a good walkthrough of the process.



Creative Sculpture Idea


This video shows how this garden art snail was created using a homemade wire form and hypertufa.



I hope this gives you some help to get started. In one afternoon you could make a good number of pots!


~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛


Make your own creative garden pots! Hypertufa is made from a combination of cement and natural fillers to create rustic, lightweight garden pots, troughs, planters, and other projects including sculptures. I'll give you the basics to get started plus some good resources for various DIY tutorials.
Make your own creative garden pots! Hypertufa is made from a combination of cement and natural fillers to create rustic, lightweight garden pots, troughs, planters, and other projects including sculptures. I'll give you the basics to get started plus some good resources for various DIY tutorials.

Original article and pictures take empressofdirt.net site

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